Hockey

#Hockey4LIFE Activities Galore As Hockey India Celebrates Olympic Day

By Impactnews Desk

Posted on June 24, 2019

Hockey India’s Member Units marked this year’s Olympic Day with activities that spread the spirit of sportsmanship. Through various events planned over the weekend, it was Hockey India’s initiative to strengthen the link that children, young people and adults have with sports and through these activities it brought together people from different walks of life, different age groups, without any gender and physical biases, to provide an opportunity to get their first experience of sport.

From hosting friendly tournaments, 5-a-side matches, to organizing Olympic Day runs, meet-and-greet former international players, were some of the main features of the celebrations across different member units that emphasised on the motto #Hockey4LIFE in the country that brought hundreds of hockey lovers together.

Olympic Day was introduced in 1948 to commemorate the birth of the modern Olympic Games on 23 June 1894 at the Sorbonne in Paris. The goal was to promote participation in sport across the globe regardless of age, gender or athletic ability. Marking the 71st Olympic Day, Hockey India through various activities endorsed IOC’s campaign called ‘UnitedBy’ that champions to bring together stories, experiences and events of Olympism from across the sporting world.

Endorsing the three pillars of Olympic Day – “Move”, “Learn” and “Discover”, member unit Hockey Maharashtra celebrated Olympic day 2019 with a match between Olympians/ International stars Vs Hockey Maharashtra senior men and womens teams. Olympians Dhanraj Pillay, Mohammed Riyaz, Sameer Dad, Rahul Singh, Ajit Lakra, Vikram Pillay, Tushar Khandekar, Preeti Dubey, Renuka Yadav and International players Dhananjay Mahadik, Yuvraj Walmiki, Edgar Mascarenhas, Girish Pimpale, Vikas Pillay, Ajitesh Roy, Suraj Karkera, Akash Chikte, Ponamma, Shyama and Sanggai took part in a match that saw several spectators gather and cheer for their favourite stars. The match saw old memories being revived with All Star players turn out in full vigour and defeated Maharashtra team by 3-2.

Meanwhile, players from Goan Hockey had a time of their lives as they revelled in the game of hockey, playing in rain, which marked their Olympic Day celebrations. In Bengaluru, 12 teams took part in a tournament hosted by Hockey Bengaluru which saw healthy competition and quality play on Olympic Day. Delhi Hockey, on the other hand, hosted exhibition matches for men and women at the SGTB Khalsa College. Hockey Madhya Bharat too hosted matches for U-14 men and women teams and Assam Hockey also hosted friendly matches over the weekend at three different venues.

Hockey Uttarakhand organised a 5-a-side men and women hockey tournament in Kashipur as well as an exclusive 5-a-side hockey tournament for women in Almora that marked the Olympic Day celebrations. Citizen Hockey XI also organised 5-a-side matches for various age groups that included eight teams in U-10, ten teams for U-13, eight teams for U-15, 12 teams in U-18 and six teams for above U-18 taking part.

Telangana Hockey too were in the forefront of championing Olympic Day activities as they organised a run as well as matches. Hockey Mizoram too involved over 50 players in matches that were conducted over the weekend at Kawnpui Hockey Ground. Malwa Hockey Academy too conducted an Olympic Day run and an exhibition match while Hockey Patiala celebrated the day by hosting matches for senior men and women and junior men and women categories. Hockey Jharkhand organised an exhibition match between Sports Authority of India and Naval Tata Hockey Academy to mark Olympic Day 2019.

Through these tournaments, the Member Units promoted the benefits of physical exercise, inspired people to get active and embrace the Olympic ideals regardless of age, gender or athletic ability.

Speaking on the occasion, Mohd. Mushtaque Ahmad, President, Hockey India, said, “The spirit to embrace sports as a way of life was made evident by our Member Units as they conducted various activities to bring people from different age, gender and athletic ability together and promoted the benefits of engaging in sports.

The Olympic Day Celebration is a great way of strengthening the link children and young adults already have with sport and it provides a great opportunity for people to get their first experience of the sporting culture. Olympic Day Celebration aims to promote fitness, well-being, culture and education while also observing values of excellence, friendship and respect.”

Hockey India Member Units that organised Olympic Day events

1 Assam Hockey

2 Hockey Bihar

3 Chhattisgarh Hockey

4 Delhi Hockey

5 Hockey Gujarat

6 Hockey Haryana

7 Hockey Himachal

8 Hockey Jammu & Kashmir

9 Hockey Jharkhand

10 Hockey Karnataka

11 Kerala Hockey